Millennials and Gen Z’s differ in a surprising number of ways, but some of the most important differences for brands come from how they behave as buyers.
No matter your interest in Generation Z, here’s a list of crucial Z stats you won’t want to miss.
You asked for it — so here it is.
We’ve compiled key stats that we think speak to Gen Zers' needs, behaviors, quirks, attitudes, likes, dislikes and preferences as a cohort — consumer and/or otherwise.
By putting all the number-crunching under one roof, it’s our hope you’ll gain convenient, global insight into what members of Gen Z are looking for in terms of brands, advertising, technology, shopping, content consumption, finances, leisure time and social causes.
Without further ado, let’s do the numbers!
65 percent of Gen Zs say they want real value for their money.1
36 percent feel a strong loyalty or connection to a brand.1
47 percent of Gen Zers who engaged with a brand feel dissatisfied or neutral about that brand’s response.1
59 percent of Gen Zs trust the brands they grew up with.1
44 percent of Gen Zs, if given the chance, would submit ideas for product designs.1
On average, Gen Zers share twice as much positive feedback to brands as they share negative feedback.1
62 percent of Gen Zs find themselves attracted to brands they view as “fun or cool.”1
55 percent of Zs buy from brands they consider eco-friendly.1
53 percent state their “favorite brand” is able to “understand them as an individual.”1
45 percent are more favorable to brands that have been endorsed by celebrities or athletes.1
76 percent of Gen Zers want brands to respond to their voices and feedback — and view "responsiveness" as a metric of a brand’s “authenticity.”1
The average Gen Zer's attention span for an ad is approximately eight seconds.13
56 percent of Gen Zers don’t click on ads when browsing websites.2
66 percent use only push notifications from certain apps, but not all. 2
65 percent have installed some form of ad-blocking technology.3
66 percent skip online ads whenever they can.3
12 percent are willing to pay for premium, ad-less services.3
36 percent will “do something else” while a digital ad is playing.3
20 percent of Gen Zers report that they “don’t mind [digital] ads.”3
47 percent of Gen Zers who have installed mobile ad-blocking technology state that the main reason for ad-blocking is “because ads interrupt me.”3
41 percent of Gen Zers who have installed mobile ad-blocking technology state that the main reason for ad-blocking is “because ads slow down my phone.”3
36 percent of Gen Zers who have installed mobile ad-blocking technology state that the main reason for ad-blocking is “because the ads aren’t relevant.”3
53 percent of Gen Zers enjoy cinema advertising.3
55 percent of Gen Zers enjoy outdoor advertising.3
51 percent of Gen Zers enjoy print magazine advertising.3
49 percent of Gen Zers enjoy newspaper advertising.3
48 percent of Gen Zers enjoy TV advertising.3
39 percent of Gen Zers enjoy radio advertising.3
54 percent of Gen Zers feel positive about online branded content.3
50 percent of Gen Zers respond well to ads placed in social news feeds.
45 percent of Gen Zers engage readily with native advertising formats and articles.3
97.6 percent of Gen Zs own a smartphone across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.2
Nearly one quarter (22 percent) of Gen Zs use their smartphones 10+ hours per day.4
31 percent of Gen Zers don’t feel comfortable without having their phone for “30 minutes or less.”4
94 percent own a laptop.2
44.2 percent own a tablet.2
36.9 percent own a gaming console.2
30 percent own a desktop computer.2
17.6 percent make use of some form of fitness tracker.2
14.2 percent possess a Smartwatch.2
Only 3.5 percent of Gen Zs own virtual reality (VR) gear.2
87 percent of Gen Zs have access to high-speed WiFi at home.5
66 percent of Gen Zs report using more than one digital device simultaneously.5
49 percent of Gen Zs feel better socializing online rather than offline.5
Fewer than 30 percent of Gen Zs are willing to share their personal health, wellness or financial information online.5
58 percent of Gen Zs don’t trust Facebook with their personal data.2
78 percent will entrust certain apps — though not all — to access their geo-locale.2
60 percent of Gen Zers won’t use a website or app that’s too slow to load.5
62 percent won’t use a website or app that’s hard to navigate.5
73 percent of Gen Zers use their smartphones to text and chat with one another.5
As of 2018, Gen Zs have approximately $143 billion in total spending power.6
41 percent of Gen Zers will read at least five online reviews before making a purchase.4
Only 15 percent of Gen Zers see themselves as shopping exclusively online in the future; 77 percent see themselves shopping in a mixture of in-store and online environments.7
70 percent of Gen Zers report exerting an influence on their families’ purchasing decisions.5
46 percent of Gen Zs follow “more than 10” social media influencers.4
52 percent of Gen Zs are keeping track of at least three brands on social media.4
Gen Zs prefer following brands on Instagram to Facebook by a 250-percent factor.4
Gen Z prefers following brands on Instagram twice as much as Millennials.4
70 percent of Gen Z remain consistently loyal to the brand of smartphone they purchase.4
59 percent of Gen Zers show regular brand loyalty when it comes to electronics overall.4
Only 38 percent of Gen Zers display the same level of loyalty to clothing brands as they would to electronics or smartphones.4
66 percent of Gen Zs will pay for music apps.2
31 percent will pay for game and entertainment apps..2
24 percent will pay for health and fitness apps.2
18 percent will spend money on apps that increase their productivity or provide them with some other type of day-to-day organization and/or utility.2
17 percent use apps to shop and browse.5
66 percent of Gen Zers stress the importance of high-quality products and services above other considerations.5
66 percent would rather do business at stores where “very few products” would ever be out of stock.5
65 percent of Gen Z shoppers want “real value” for their money — and are more inclined to purchase when offered coupons, incentives or a rewards program.5
56 percent stress the need for shopping experiences to “not be boring.”5
46 percent say the recommendations of friends and family members play a significant part in making their financial decisions.5
28 percent of Gen Zers subscribe to cable TV.5
61 percent have made the full crossover to digital streaming services.5
83 percent of Gen Zs watch Netflix.5
22 percent choose Amazon Instant TV.5
18 percent opt for subscribing to YouTube TV.5
77 percent of Gen Zs still read printed books regularly.2
54.2 percent of Gen Zers tune into livestreamed events.2
79.7 percent of Gen Zers receive their news via social media.2
54.7 percent learn about the news from apps.2
50.6 percent find out about news by watching television.2
44.3 percent receive news from digital news sites and blogs.2
19.2 percent get news updates from email newsletters.2
12.7 percent read print media to learn about current events.2
A slight majority of Gen Zers report getting their news from laptops rather than smartphone, tablets, television or any other medium.2
66 percent of Gen Zers don’t listen to podcasts.2
74 percent of Gen Zers don’t watch Facebook Live or video streaming shows.2
56 percent of Gen Zers share more videos than they share articles.8
72 percent of Gen Zers cite “nighttime” as being the most frequent time of day when they watch video content.8
80 percent of Gen Zers cite “a higher salary” as the principle reason they want to go to college.9
52 percent of Gen Zers are confident they’ll graduate from college with less than $25,000 US (or the equivalent) in accumulated debt.9
73 percent of Gen Z students report having a job or a “side-hustle” to help pay for expenses.9
Only 35 percent of Gen Z students rely on government loans to help pay for college or university.9
52 percent of Gen Zers don’t have credit cards.9
72 percent of Gen Zs have already opened either a savings or checking account by the time they graduate high school.9
54 percent of Gen Zers don’t plan on opening more than one bank account regardless of the incentive.9
25 percent of Gen Zs report that a $100 (or equivalent) incentive would give them enough impetus to open another banking account.9
74 percent of Gen Zers prefer spending time online.5
44 percent of Gen Zs enjoy watching non-digital TV and movies.5
44 percent of Gen Zers would rather be hanging out with their friends.5
44 percent of Gen Zers would equally enjoy spending time with their family.5
29 percent of Gen Zs try to earn extra money.5
25 percent of Gen Zs read books, magazines or newspapers.5
23 percent of Gen Zers take part in extracurricular activities.5
23 percent of Gen Zs would rather be exercising or otherwise staying fit.5
22 percent of Gen Zers want to learn new things.5
8 percent of Gen Zers spend time volunteering.5
6 percent of Gen Zs participate in organized group activities.5
When traveling, 58 percent of Gen Zers would rather stay at hotels than either AirBnb or vacation rentals.10
Roughly 53 percent of Gen Zers agree that “personal success” is the most important thing in life.11
93 percent of Gen Zers believe they're either “empowered” or “somewhat empowered” to shape "what [their] future will be".7
68 percent of Gen Zs are concerned about the environment.7
81 percent of Gen Zs are concerned about the costs of education.7
63 percent of Gen Zs are concerned about jobs and unemployment.7
70 percent of Gen Zers believe racial equality is a defining issue of their generation.11
Only around 12 percent of Gen Zers trust their country’s leadership.7
59 percent of Gen Zers feel their voices go unheard by their country’s leaders.7
64 percent of Gen Zers don’t see their country’s leadership as making progress on issues that are important to them.7
61 percent of Gen Zs believe brands are better positioned than governments to solve social problems14
71 percent of Gen Z sees access to healthcare as being important to its future.7
59 percent of Gen Z is in favor of some form of gun control.7
57 percent of Gen Z perceives immigration as an important issue.7
38 percent of Gen Zs are concerned about data privacy.7
62 percent believe increasing racial/ethnic diversity is good for society.12
64 percent believe one key issue of their time is addressing gender inequality.11
62 percent think tackling poverty is a driving issue.11
Roughly 57 percent of Gen Zers are concerned about income inequality.11
60 percent of Gen Zers want their job to impact the planet positively in some way. 3
35 percent of Gen Zers personally know someone who describes themselves using a gender-neutral pronoun.12
72 percent of Gen Zers plan on getting married in the future.7
70 percent of Gen Zs plan on having children in the future.7
Over half of Gen Z believes that same-sex marriage makes society better.12
53 percent of Gen Zers believe interracial marriage is good for society.12
40 percent of Gen Z feels comfortable sharing its political opinions on social media.7
12 percent of Gen Zers voice their political opinions by taking part in marches or protests.7
35 percent of Gen Zs believe marijuana should be legalized outright, while another 50 percent believe marijuana should be legalized for medicinal purposes only.7
Among environmental issues that are most important to Gen Zs, 85 percent cite “pollution,” whereas 87 percent cite "global warming/climate change".7
1IBM and National Retail Federation report: “Gen Z brand relationships: authenticity matters”
2 UNiDAYS and Ad Age: “Gen Z: Decoding the digital generation”
3Kantar Millward Brown: "Ad reaction: Gen Z, Y and X"
4The Center for Generational Kinetics: “The state of Gen Z 2018”
5IBM report: “Uniquely Gen Z: What brands should know about today’s youngest consumers”
6Millennial Marketing: The real figure of direct Gen Z spending
7UNiDAYS and Ad Age: “Gen Z: Preparing to face the future”
8Wibbitz: “How to reach audiences with social video: from Millennials to Generation Z”
9 UNiDAYS: “Gen Z Insights: Zs and money: What you need to know”
10 UNiDAYS and Ad Age: “Meet Gen Z: The traveling generation”
11Barkley and FutureCast study: “Getting to know Gen Z: How the pivotal generation is different than Millennials”
12Pew Research Center: “Gen Z looks a lot like Millennials in key social and political trends”
13VisionCritical: Unlike Millennials: 5 ways Gen Z differs from Gen Y
14 UNiDAYS: “Gen Z and belief-driven buying survey” (coming soon)
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